My long supply of solvent is coming to an end. I have never tried ballistol. A few questions:

1. Is it a good enough lubricant by itself?
2. Is it safe for plastic? (Was not a concern 100 years ago)
3. Does the smell linger in the room or on your clothing for a long time?
4. Why do you think it is not very popular for smokeless powder guns?

Hickok45 sure swears by it and mentions it in videos. As you implied it's very well thought of for black powder cleanup but that could be mainly because it's been around forever.

Sorry, I've never used it so no firsthand experience but am interested in what others say.

__________________
______
The biggest issue with assembling an AR isn't so much getting the parts together right - it's getting the right parts together.
________________________________________
US Army 1966-69, VFW Life Member, Retired Geek

I have been using it for a year now and it works fine on my guns, it appears to be safe on most anything wood and polymer included. The only thing I heard (no first hand experience) was it will remove gold leaf and you also should not use it on nickel plated firearms. Its also sold as an all around cleaner and preservative. The only negative it does not smell as good as Hoppe's 9